Passing the holidays with unlimited amounts of Panetón

I must admit that spending christmas in the southern hemisphere changes the familiar images so well implanted by that of the northern. With the summer approaching the days seemed to get hotter and hotter and by the time Chrismas arrived our tranquil Cerro Azul breached its maximum capacity with thousands of people streaming into the pueblito and setting up tent all along the beach. Throughout the christmas week we were spending time with some of the locals like Kasike, one of the older sufers and his 4 girls; El Cojo; T-rex; Juan or Colocho, a colombian geographer who works the coast of Peru; La Gigi and her family and all of Andres´aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, and cousins who live in the whereabouts. To say the least it was not a dull Christmas. The New Year seemed to bring in strange waves of inconsistency. Just last Sunday another earthquake hit chile and it seems that the whole of the coast has been feeling its affects. Last night the tide stretched until the perimeters of the city. The last reluctant tents to leave were washed away with the tide. Aside from tsunamis and earthquakes, my route north has become more complicated with the constant rain closing the highways through Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. I was planning to head to Huaraz and its mountain ranges here in Peru but reading the most recent headlines has informed me that this passage too has been closed. I am continuing to work through all my options and hope to be on the move here within the week or so. Pictures are coming!